Rock River Valley fares better than most on fuel costs

Thomas V. Bona

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 29, 2008 at 6:33 PM

Winnebago County motorists pay on average $163 a month for fuel, only 4 percent of their income — less than the national average of 5 percent. Other Rock River Valley motorists pay around the same rate.

Think you’ve got it bad when it comes to gas prices?

Think about Wilcox County, Ala., where the average person spends almost $250 a month on fuel, according to a recent study. That’s almost 17 percent of their income.

Winnebago County motorists pay on average $163 a month for fuel, only 4 percent of their income — less than the national average of 5 percent. Other Rock River Valley motorists pay around the same rate.

The people hit the hardest by high fuel prices are those in poor and rural areas of the South and West, according to the study, released by the Oil Price Information Service.

“Unfortunately, these people really have to do a lot of driving to get to a low-paying job, so it’s really hitting them,” said Glen Falk, retail pricing manager for OPIS. “They don’t have access to telecommuting or carpools and all those kinds of things.”

The least-hardest hit areas of the country include affluent suburbs of New York; Chicago; Denver; Washington, D.C.; and Southern California — where the median income is well above the national median of $3,694 a month and few people spend more than the national average of $190 a month in fuel.

Rock River Valley counties generally rank in the bottom one-tenth of the country in percentage of income that goes to fuel.

Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties have median incomes higher than the national median, but residents pay less than the national average in monthly fuel costs. This is despite having gas prices around the top 20 percent of counties in the country.

Besides having more money, people nearer to big cities have better transportation options and don’t have to drive far to get to stores, restaurants and entertainment venues, Falk said.

Of course, the jump in fuel prices is still a pinch everywhere. In Winnebago County, the average amount spent on fuel jumped almost 32 percent in the last year and 152 percent since 2002.

Those kind of increases are being seen everywhere, Falk said, but that’s cold comfort for those paying the bills.

And the poorer you are, regardless of where you live, the harder fuel prices are hitting you.

“Paying $40 more a month, that’s not insignificant,” said John Lewis, economist at Northern Illinois University. “It is having an impact on our lifestyle.”

Still, the Rock River Valley’s low rank on the list indicates a competitive advantage it has with other areas.